Creating a Satisfying Academic Career with Jo Van Every

Over the years I've written a lot about focus and distraction.  This track introduces the collection of posts from my blog around this theme, with some new thoughts on the value of identifying the problem *before* you try to implement solutions.  I also say a bit about what you'll find in the other posts.  Related Posts: 3 elements to consider Focus and the desire for distraction Distrac...

An interview with Laura Portwood-Stacer about her new book, Make Your Manuscript work.  In March 2025 I wrote about the difficulty of writing a “shitty first draft”  (JoVanEvery.co.uk/perfectionism-vs-impatience/) and concluded "If you *accept* that multiple rounds of revision will be required, and even have a process for moving through them, it’s easier to allow yourself to be messy when dra...

Another yoga analogy. Sometimes the advanced practice is knowing that what your writing project needs is for you to go for a long walk and think about it... Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/an-advanced-writing-practice/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter   To find out how short chunks of time c...

The first writing session working on a project you haven't worked on in a while is tough.  In this track I talk about what kind of work might be involved in that session and how it can overcome the inertia. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/coming-back-neglected-project/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.c...

Do you have several writing projects, in various states of completion, that you *could* be working on?  Are you overwhelmed by choice?  Are you not working on any of them because you're not sure what you *should* do next? This post is for you. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/what-should-you-do-next/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly n...

Have you stopped writing?  Would you like writing to be a thing you do again?  15-minute sessions can be particularly helpful for finding your way back to a practice you have lost.  Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/back-to-writing/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter   To find out how short chun...

Research and writing are creative processes. There is real value in just embracing the process and trusting that it will lead to something that is good enough to share with others.  Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/embrace-research-process/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter   To find out how s...

An excerpt from my Short Guide: Finding Time for your Scholarly Writing , in which I talk about how 15 minutes a day can complement your longer sessions.  15 minute sessions may not feel satisfying in and of themselves but using them can make your longer sessions more satisfying. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/the-power-of-15-mins-a-day/ For more advice, support and perspectives like...

Another track in which I apply something I learned in yoga class to your writing practice. There can be real benefits to working on small things in small amounts of time. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/the-benefits-of-working-small/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter   To find out how short c...

If setting goals leads to feeling like a failure, you will be gratified to know that you don't need to set goals to achieve things.  I propose an alternative in this track. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/i-hate-goals/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter   To find out how short chunks of t...

Another track about what 'counts' as writing. Although it doesn't look much like work, doing the intellectual work of figuring out what you are going to write definitely counts. Even if you are sitting in a comfy chair with a cup of tea while you do it.  Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/permission-to-think-big-thoughts/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this...

In my view, anything that contributes to bringing your writing project from initial ideas, to published output 'counts' as writing. I discuss this in more detail in this track.  Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/counts-writing/ For more advice, support and perspectives like this, sign up to my free monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter   To find out how short...

In this track I engage with a series of posts Rohan Maitzen wrote about what counts as research to expand your sense of what you might do with the time you have allocated for writing and research.  The posts I was inspired by are: When is reading research? https://rohanmaitzen.com/2012/02/05/when-is-reading-research/ Sowing seeds: on the duties of professors https://rohanmaitzen.com/2016/06/10/sow...

The 4th and final track in the series that uses my experience of developing a daily yoga practice to talk about how you might establish a regular writing practice. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/https-jovanevery-co-uk-developing-new-practice-one-year-later/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter Take the FREE 15 Minute Writin...

The 3rd track in the series that uses my experience of developing a regular yoga practice to think about how you might establish a regular writing practice. Checking in with my new 15-minute yoga practice 3 months later. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/developing-new-practice-an-update/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter T...

Continuing the series on developing a new practice, I provide more details of how I structured my 15-minute yoga practice as an analogy for how you might use 15-minute writing to establish a regular writing practice. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/developing-new-practice-how/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter Take the FR...

The first of a series of tracks using my experience of using very short sessions to develop a daily yoga practice as an example of what developing a writing practice might look like. I don't care if you ever do yoga. This post is about writing. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/developing-new-practice-getting-started/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: ht...

Deadlines are a common way to motivate yourself to write. But if they are creating resistance instead, you need a different strategy. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/are-deadlines-helping-or-hurting/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter Take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challe...

Establishing a habit of writing regularly is not easy. Starting with 15-minutes a day is a good way to establish a habit. This track talks about why. And yes, once established, you can extend the amount of time you write to something longer. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/small-steps-big-results/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/n...

If you discovered that your semester started a week later than expected, what would you do? What if you decided to use that week for writing? This track includes some thoughts on the transition from summer writing back into teaching. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/if-you-had-one-more-week/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newslett...

It's important to have realistic expectations about how much writing you can do when you are also teaching. Here's how to do it. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/term-time-writing/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter Take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challenge/ Or jo...

There is no way you can do all the writing you want and need to do if you only write during the summer and your sabbaticals. It’s hard to write during term time. But it is possible. The trick is to figure out a way to do that that works for you. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/possible-write-term-time/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co...

One of the earliest things I wrote about writing for 15-minutes a day drew on Robert Boice’s work and suggests experimenting with 15-minute sessions. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-minutes-a-day/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter Take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-min-writing-challe...

The only way you can figure out if writing for very short periods of time will work for you, is to try it. In this track, I talk about designing experiments. Read the post here: https://jovanevery.co.uk/the-value-of-experiments/For more content like this, sign up to the monthly newsletter: https://jovanevery.co.uk/newsletter Take the FREE 15 Minute Writing Challenge: https://jovanevery.co.uk/15-mi...

This Spotlight focuses on what very short periods of time can contribute to your writing practice. I do not think you can have a satisfying writing practice by *only* cobbling together these 15 minute sessions. However, I do think that making good use of very short chunks of time will make a significant difference to your writing practice. Posts linked in this track have also been recorded and can...